The #FCC Chair has requested that future satellite applications include results of analyses showing that the risk of collision/debris generation from a given satellite due to spontaneous explosion is less than 0.1% over its expected lifetime.
New NASA cost-benefit of tracking/mitigating orbital debris finds that propulsive deorbiting and improved tracking of large debris have the best C-B ratio, while tracking of cm-size debris and removing mm-sized debris is less beneficial.
#TIL that the American Enterprise Institute has built what looks to be a useful dashboard based on data aggregated by @planet4589 and @celestrak to visualize lots of information about trends in #space launches, #satellites and #SpaceDebris.
"While there are still hurdles to overcome and challenges to solve before LSST can deliver on its extraordinary promises, thankfully, dealing with tiny bits of space junk likely won’t be one of them."
This is about an hour away from my farm, so this'll be a fun conversation, and yet another great opportunity to tell a lot of people about what a huge problem we have with unregulated commercialization of orbit. (Also I just redid my slides for my public talk next week, this is going in!)
@sundogplanets I think they'd issue a notification to UN or something? In 2022 Australia did so for 4 pieces of space debris that were found 3 were from SpaceX. But in 2023 for another piece of space debris this time from ISRO's PSLV, they didn't do the same.
Another find in my ESA office as I clear it out ahead of my imminent departure: some fragments recovered from the explosion of the first Ariane 5 flight V88 / 501 on 4 June 1996, carrying the four Cluster magnetospheric satellites 🛰️🛰️🛰️🛰️
The satellites were rebuilt & successfully launched on two Soyuz rockets in 2000: they are still in operation today, although their end is near now 🥺
A ew paper by Tyson et al. estimates that "only one in five [Rubin Observatory] LSST exposures low on the sky during twilight might be affected" by glints due to space debris, mostly due to "tumbling LEO debris larger than 10 cm or with significantly greater reflectivity".
Reentry of ISS batteries into Earth's astmosphere.
"A large space object reenters the atmosphere in a natural way approximately once per week, with the majority of the associated fragments burning up before reaching the ground."
UPDATE (8 March, 11:00 CET): The reentry of the ISS batteries is now expected between approximately 15:35 CET and 22:25 CET on 8 March.
.@sundogplanets: "Get out and enjoy your dark skies, before they change. With proper regulation, our oldest form of space exploration can continue. I desperately hope we never reach a point where the natural patterns in the sky are drowned out by anthropogenic ones, but without regulation, corporations will get us there soon."
Not sure that "Japan to launch artisanal spacecraft" was on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are.
But seriously, good on @guardianscience for mentioning that otherwise, "aluminium from re-entering satellites could cause serious depletion of the ozone layer".
Here Prof. Hugh Lewis University of Southampton) shows some simulation results presented recently at the 2nd International Orbital Debris Conference.
👀 this one: "Some large constellations might already face an annual collision probability >10% even after accounting for their manoeuvring capability."
The Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA) has released a "Code of Conduct on Space Sustainability". The Code is the result of more than seven months of negotiation among multiple parties and commercial space operators.
One of the four pillars of the Code is "Limiting satellite reflectivity and the related impact on optical astronomy".
The threat is very real: "As humanity we’ve done what we’ve done in every other environment and lost a lot of rubbish and pollutants [in space]. If we’re not careful, we get to a point where we’ve left parts of space unusable because they are full of debris."